May 4, 2020
Dear Valued Patient,
When our state was asked to stay home to help stop the spread of COVID-19, you responded. We could not be more grateful for your actions to protect our community, and for your outpouring of support. Together, our work has flattened the curve resulting in a sustained reduction in COVID-19 cases in our community.
During this response, some of your medical care may have been postponed. Maintaining your health now is just as important as ever. Stay connected and reach out to your care team if you have questions about your health. Don’t delay in getting the care you need.
We will continue to offer the convenience of telemedicine visits when appropriate to meet your care needs but we are now also able to safely expand our services to meet your in-person care needs as well. This includes needed surgeries, procedures, and tests that may have previously been postponed.
When you do need hands-on care in our clinics or hospital, know we are operating with the same attention to quality and safety you have grown to trust at Jefferson Healthcare.
We have measures in place to keep our healthcare system as safe as possible for you and your family and are following local, state, and federal guidelines.
Some of the actions we are taking to keep you safe include:
- We ensure appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) and materials for our caregivers in all care settings.
- We screen everyone entering our clinics and hospital, including temperature checks for all staff and visitors.
- We kindly ask that you do not bring family members or friends with you into the clinics and hospital unless you require assistance. Please note, we ask that you bring no more than one support visitor with you.
- We staff our COVID Nursing Hotline, Respiratory Evaluation Station and Testing Drive-Thru Clinic to allow us to thoughtfully separate possible COVID-19 cases and minimize the risk of exposure in our clinics and hospital.
- We practice social distancing and limit patient volumes within all clinics and care areas.
- We continue to disinfect and sanitize common areas with high frequency and exam rooms after every patient.
- We have expanded COVID-19 testing for our patients undergoing non-emergent surgery, procedures, and tests.
Your health and safety have always been our top priorities. We will continue to monitor the community prevalence of COVID-19 to understand when we should either “dial-up or dial-down” our services to keep you safe AND provide you with the care you need.
If you’d like to make an appointment, or if you’re unsure of whether you need one, call us, and we can decide together. We will help you get the care you need and share any specific policies or procedures you should know about to keep you safe.
Thank you again for being our partners in reducing the impact of COVID-19 on our community.
We look forward to continuing to care for you.
Sincerely,
Joseph Mattern III, MD, FAAFP & HMDC, Chief Medical Officer
Steven Butterfield, MD, FACP, FAAP, Chief Medical Officer, Medical Group
Tracie Harris, MD, FACP, Chief Medical Officer, Quality